1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a flavor plate for use in a gas barbecue between a burner and a grill.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, gas barbecues have a burner with a grid located above the burner to support ceramic briquettes. A grill located above the briquettes supports food to be cooked. The ceramic briquettes have largely replaced lava rock. However, lava rock is porous and, when flammable juices are absorbed by the rock, food-charring flare-ups are quite common. With ceramic briquettes, there virtually aren""t any flare-ups as the briquettes are not porous. Some of the juices from the food fall through the lava rock or the briquettes onto the burner. These juices often contain salts or acids that prematurely corrode the burner. The purpose of the briquettes or lava rock is to vaporize the juices to provide the food being barbecued with the unique barbecue flavor. It is therefore desirable to vaporize the juices as completely and as quickly as possible as the rising vapors flavor the foods being barbecued. Periodically, the barbecue must be cleaned and all of the briquettes or lava rock, as well as the grid, must be removed to clean the area around the burner. The flavor plate is made from cast iron but could also be made of stamp steel or other suitable material. Ideally, the flavor plate is capable of storing heat from the gas burner (not shown)
It is an object of the present invention to provide a flavor plate that replaces the briquettes and the grid in a gas barbecue and protects the burner from corrosive juices from the food being barbecued without sacrificing the distinct barbecue flavoring of the food.
A flavor plate is for use with a barbecue having a burner and a grill is used to flavor food being barbecued. The flavor plate is mounted between the burner and the grill. The flavor plate has a plurality of convex surfaces supported on a frame. The convex surfaces extend upward away from the burner when the flavor plate is in an upright position. Part of the flavor plate located immediately above the burner is closed off to prevent juices from the food being barbecued from dripping onto the burner. The remainder of the flavor plate is open with air passages between the convex surfaces so that air heated by the burner can rise through the passage directly to the grill.
Preferably, the convex surfaces are spaced apart from one another and have a generally square shape with rounded corners. A flavor plate and barbecue and combination has a flavor plate mounted between a burner and grill of the barbecue. There are no briquettes in the barbecue. The flavor plate has a plurality of convex surfaces supported on a frame. The convex surfaces extend upward away from the burner when the flavor plate is in an upright position. Part of the flavor plate located immediately above the burner is closed off to prevent juices from food being barbecued from dripping onto the burner. A remainder of the flavor plate is open with air passages between the convex surfaces so that air heated by the burner can rise through the air passages directly to the grill.